Reviews

Miura K Grind Wedges: Editor Review

Published

11 years ago

Aug 28, 2013

Pros: The “knuckles” on the back of Miura’s K Grind wedge makes them some of the coolest looking wedges on the market. Like all Miura wedges, they’re hand ground from carbon steel, and the K Grind seems to do what Miura says it does — keep the wedge moving cleanly through bad lies and sand.

Cons: Only available for righties in three lofts — 52, 56 and 60. Their cost, $275 each, makes them some of the priciest wedges in golf.

Bottom Line: Golfers will be attracted to Miura’s K Grind wedges for their distinctive appearance, but after hitting them they will likely be more impressed with the their ability to cut through thick sand and deep rough.

Overview

The K Grind was initially discovered in prototype form by Miura’s Vice President of Product Strategies, Bill Holowaty, who spotted the distinctive wedge during one of his visits to Himeji, Japan. He asked Katsuhiro Miura (the founder of Miura and the “K” in K Grind), “Why aren’t we making this?”

According to Holowaty, Miura is not the first company to create a wedge with the K Grind’s flutes in the rear portion of the sole, but he said that Mr. Miura is likely the first to perfect it.

The K Grind was initially offered as a part of Miura’s limited-edition Series 1957 lineup in a 56-degrees model. Due to the popular demand, however, Miura recently decided to release a 52- and 60-degree model.

The wedge’s distinctive flutes (knuckle-sized channels on the back of the sole) were designed to reduce the resistance when the wedge moves through sand, rough and even a nice fairway lie. The channels move material underneath the sole, allowing golfers to get better contact no matter what lie they’re hitting from.

On paper, the Miura’s K Grind wedges are moderate-to-high bounce wedges with quite a bit of camber — the 52-degree wedge has 7 degrees of bounce, the 56-degree has 12 and the 60-degree has 13. But their aggressive trailing edge grinds means that they play like wedges that have less bounce, and shine from nasty lies and the sand because of their distinctive fluted soles.

The three lofts can easily be bent a degree or two in either direction with no real detriment to the club’s performance, which is nice considering that many players may not play the three lofts offered.

As with all Miura clubs, the K Grind is offered at official Miura dealers. The wedges costs $275 with a standard steel shaft. Additional cost may be added if upgraded shafts are requested.

Performance

I’ve used Miura’s K Grind 56-degree wedge in the past, so I expected that a 60-degree model would play well for me. But I wasn’t so sure about the 52-degree, a club I rarely use from inside 100 yards.

All of the wedges have a gentle teardrop shape — round at the toe, but not too much. The sole grind, as you stare at the head from the heel, has a gentle leading edge and a more aggressive trailing edge grind. The heel grind is also shaped nicely, and although it doesn’t have as much relief as some other models on the market I found that I was easily able to pull off the opened-face shots I wanted to hit with it.

It was interesting to me that I didn’t have to open up the wedges as much as some others I’ve used because of the wedge’s flutes. It seemed that they kept the wedge from wanting to turn over on shots from the sand and rough, which allowed for a higher, softer flight. I’ve studied grinds so much through the years and no other wedge has left me so fascinated. I can feel the energy that Mr. Miura put into each head as I look at his work.

The spin also seemed to be greater than other Miura wedges I’ve used because I felt that I contacted “more of the ball” on partial shots. That made me feel fearless out of the sand, and like a magician in the rough.

If you look at the sole, you’ll see that about 50 percent of the trailing edge does not touch the ground. That gives the club a narrower “effective sole width,” which is like having a sharper knife — it cuts through the grass and sand much easier than wedges with wider soles. For those of you worried about digging, the K Grind also has a rounded leading edge and more camber than other Miura wedge models, which helps keep the club sliding along the grass instead of sticking in the turf.

Maybe the best part of the K Grind was its performance from the bunkers. Balls are easily lofted out with the K Grind’s “knuckles,” which act like a rudder through the sand. I found myself actually attacking the pin more as the ball got out so easily and came to a quicker stop.

Trajectory on opened shots from turf made me think I could pull off flop shots from everywhere. Therein lies the danger in the wedge, however. The 60-degree K Grind slides so easily under the ball that you will have to practice opened-faced shots a bit to get the feel of how far the ball will fly.

Although I had my doubts about how well the 52 would work on full shots, I was impressed with how cleanly the sole brushed through the grass. It appeared that the lack of restriction from the turf allowed me to get much better contact on the ball, imparting much greater spin than I had with my last Miura wedge set, the New Wedge Series (click here to read my full review).

The New Wedge Series are Miura’s traditionally shaped wedge designs, which are the company’s lowest-bounce wedges. I found my shots with the K Grind wedges to be even more crisp from the fairway than the New Wedge Series, likely because of the increased bounce and camber. And the extra spin I got from the flutes was particularly noticeable from the first cut of rough at 100 yards.

Looks and Feel

The satin finish on all Miura clubs has always been a thing of beauty to me. The same satin finish on the K Grinds continues to leave me in awe. It’s tough to look at something so gorgeous for the first time and know that its future will be slamming into the turf, sand, hardpan and dirt. It’s something that you have to get over quickly knowing it’s a tool that will help your game, but that still doesn’t make it an easy task.

The flutes on the trailing edges catch your eyes immediately. The questions never cease from people who see it for the first time.

“Does it work?” “What’s it for?”

I never tire of answering those questions. Sometime I feel like an infomercial giving much more information than the questioner wanted, but I truly rave about the K Grinds in person.

When I got my first 56-degree K Grind, I remember sticking my finger tips in the flutes and gripping the head. I did it again when I received the 52 and 60 degree heads. I eyed the light mill marks in the cavity of the flutes and marveled at the way the head reflected the light in a soft silvery glow. The simple stampings on the back of the head took nothing away from the beauty of the grind, and their placement and style screamed something special to me.

The feel, like pretty much every other Miura club, was magical — the K Grinds will make driving range rocks feel softer. No matter the shot I was playing, the feel was was very consistent and provided great feedback when I didn’t catch it quite right.

The Takeaway

Miura listened to many of us loyal fans and finally put into production what we had been asking for in the past years. They not only produced beautiful wedges in added lofts, but wedges that actually work well with the K Grind.

Although K Grind wedges should not be confused with traditional game-improvement wedges, the sole grind allowed me some wiggle room on shots – I could make mistakes, but the wedge would still let me get to the ball. I’m not saying you can chunk a chip and still hit a good shot, but a slight miss for me is still better than other wedges without the K Grind.

If you’re a golfer with a more aggressive angle of attack, consider Miura’s C Grind wedges, which are available in 55-, 57- and 59-degree models. They have more bounce, but like the K Grinds they have rolled leading and trailing edges that make them play with a little less effective bounce. They also have more heel and toe relief than the K Grinds, which might be better for golfers who like to play the club very opened or sit it on its toe for chip shots.

A special thanks to Mr. Miura for his deep appreciation for the users of his clubs and for his commitment to designing clubs for players who expect the very best.

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Accessory Reviews

Insider photos from Tiger Woods’ launch event for his new “Sun Day Red” apparel line

Published

2 months ago

Feb 13, 2024

Andrew Tursky

On Monday evening, inside the swanky, second-story “Coach House” event center in the Palisades Village, just minutes down the road from the 2024 Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club, Tiger Woods and TaylorMade officially announced their new apparel/footwear/accessory line, called “Sun Day Red.”

The Sun Day Red website officially launched on Monday night during the event, and the products are set to go on sale starting May 1.

The “Sun Day Red,” or “SDR” name will be self-explanatory for most golf fans, since he’s been wearing a victory-red shirt on Sunday’s for his entire professional career, but Woods explained the meaning of Sun Day Red at the launch event:

“It started with mom. Mom thought – being a Capricorn – that my power color was red, so I wore red as a junior golfer and I won some tournaments. Lo and behold, I go to a university that is red; Stanford is red. We wore red on the final day of every single tournament, and then every single tournament I’ve played as a professional I’ve worn red. It’s just become synonymous with me.”

The Sunday Red outfit has worked to perfection for his 82 PGA Tour victories, including 15 majors, so why not make an entire apparel line based on the career-long superstition?

As I learned at Monday’s launch event, the new Sun Day Red line includes much more than just clothing. To go along with a slew of different golf shirt designs and colorways, there were also windbreakers, hoodies, shoes, hats, headcovers, ball markers and gloves on display.

The upscale event was hosted by sports media personality Erin Andrews, with special guests David Abeles (CEO of TaylorMade) and Tiger Woods himself.

As explained by Abeles, the Sun Day Red brand is an independently-run business under the TaylorMade umbrella, and is based in San Clemente, California (rather than Carlsbad, where TaylorMade headquarters is located), and it’s run by a newly-formed, independent group. Brad Blackinship, formerly of Quiksilver and RVCA, is the appointed president of the new brand.

As for the logo itself, obviously, it’s made to look like a Tiger (the animal), and is comprised of 15 tiger stripes, which correspond with Woods’ 15 major championships. While the logo may need a 16th stripe if Woods adds a major trophy to his collection, it makes perfect sense for the time being.

The golf/lifestyle line is meant to combine premium precision and athletic comfort, while still having plenty of wearability and style off the course. Like Woods said on stage at the event, he wants to be able to go right from the course to dinner wearing Sun Day Red, and that was exactly the aesthetic on display at the event on Monday.

Following the official announcement from Woods and Abeles, they revealed multiple pieces of clothing, accessories and footwear for the event-goers to ogle (and photograph). Check out a selection of product/event photos below, or head over to our @GolfWRX Instagram page for video coverage…OR, head into our GolfWRX Forums for even more photos and member discussion.

Enjoy this exclusive look at Tiger Woods’ new Sun Day Red apparel lineup below.

See more photos from the Sun Day Red launch event here

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Equipment

Titleist launches new Vokey WedgeWorks 60 “A” grind wedge

Published

5 months ago

Nov 7, 2023

Andrew Tursky

The menu of grind options just got more expansive for Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks consumers, with the addition of a “60A” wedge to the lineup.

Previously, Vokey offered seven main grind options for players with various needs:

T Grind: The narrowest sole option, which is widely used by PGA Tour players, and has low bounce
L Grind: The lowest bounce option, with heel, toe and trailing edge relief for maximum versatility
F Grind: An all-purpose grind that’s best for full wedge shots played with a square face
S Grind: A neutral grind, best for full shots played with a square face
M Grind: A versatile grind that’s for players who want to open and close the face for various shots
D Grind: A higher-bounce wedge that’s for players with a steep swing angle, but want to play shots from various club orientations
K Grind: The highest-bounce wedge option, with heel, toe and trailing edge relief for versatility

Titleist has now added the “A” grind, which has actually already been played on the PGA Tour by golfers such as Tom Kim, who used an A-grind to win three times on the PGA Tour, Wyndham Clark, who won the U.S. Open using an A-grind, and Max Homa, who used an A-grind at the 2023 Open Championship.

According to Titleist, the Vokey WedgeWorks 60A wedge is a low-bounce option that’s for golfers with a shallow angle of attack, and who play in firmer conditions. It has a “smoothed-out” sole for a faster feel through the turf, helping some golfers slide under the ball easier at impact.

“The most important club for me, probably in my bag, is this A grind,” Clark said, according to a Titleist press release. “I use the SM9 60-degree A grind, which is a low bounce 60 that is very versatile. I’m able to – on tight lies, rough, wet lies, firm lies, whatever it is – hit the shot I want, and with the amount of spin I want, trajectory and everything.”

Apparently, Geoff Ogilvy played a large part in the A-grind coming to life.

“I spoke with Geoff (Ogilvy), and we got on the topic of Australian golf courses and how they compared to courses in America, and around the world,” said Vokey Tour Rep Aaron Dill, in a press release. “I asked him some specific questions, which resulted in an idea to design another lob wedge grind option that complemented the firm links-style conditions that players face – not just in Australia and Europe – but globally. Geoff has always been a low bounce player in his 60-degree, so I took his 60.04L wedge and removed the ribbon, resulting in a grind that moves through the turf quickly with very little resistance.”

The new Vokey A-grind will be available on Nov. 7, selling for $225 each. Custom options include up to six toe engravings, 10-15 character stamping options, the Flight Line alignment feature option, and custom shafts/grips/ferrules are available.

Click here to read more about why the bounce/grind of your wedge actually matters

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Equipment

GolfWRXers put the Full Swing KIT’s accuracy to the test

Published

9 months ago

Jul 10, 2023

GolfWRX Staff

Last month, four GolfWRX forum members traveled to The Grand Golf Club at the Fairmont Grand Del Mar in San Diego, California, to test the Full Swing KIT launch monitor and to see how it stacks up against other launch monitors. If you’re not familiar with the Full Swing KIT, development began when Tiger Woods requested a launch monitor he could trust on the range as much as he trusted his Full Swing simulator in his own home. Later, the KIT earned Tiger’s seal of approval and has been seen with him at every tournament he’s played in since its release.

Check out the video below to see if the KIT can earn the seal of approval from our four WRXers — @zap311, @double or triple?, @hatrick11, and @SwingBlues — just like it did from Tiger Woods himself.

GolfWRX members on the KIT’s accuracy

zap311: “The Full Swing team seems obsessed with accuracy when it comes to the KIT – The team talked about how this product officially shipped about 18 months ago and they are already on firmware release #20. They said they are regularly releasing updates (overnight via WiFi) to continuously improve accuracy and performance. That is pretty awesome and it’s nice to hear that they are not a company that “ships it” and moves to the next thing. I think they are on the right track since I saw virtually no differences in the data when testing vs. GCQuad and Trackman today.”

double or triple?: “In some cases the difference was less than half a degree on launch and less than 50 rpms on spin.”

hatrick11: “The differences were statistically nonexistent. I think it’s hard to believe for a lot of people when you think about the huge price disparity, but I can’t state enough how close the Full Swing was to trackman every single time, for each of us.”

“Outside, the data is just really really accurate. I know my numbers and know this particular range very well and the KIT was spot on all day. I also had some very variable quality golf balls in the bucket I hit and there was really only one spin rate in the whole session that had me raising my eyebrows at all.”

SwingBlues: “The GolfWRX Full Swing/WRX Experience showed Full Swing KIT produce numbers the same as the GC Quad (GC4) and the Trackman4. Dollar wise, both LMs are easily north of KIT, so this is HUGE to stand up there with the bigger boys on the Podium. For me, it seems more “apples to apples” to compare KIT to GC3. My own testing validates what we saw at the Experience. It shows critical data points like spin, carry, ball speeds are dead on or almost dead on for 40 yards and up on both GC3 and KIT.”

More on the Full Swing KIT

zap311: “The versatility of viewing data is impressive – Depending on usage, everyone has different preferences for viewing data. You have on-device, phone, tablet, monitor, smartwatch, or audio/headphones. I’m pleased to say that Full Swing covers all of these. You can use the app on iOS devices (they said Android is planned for the future). This includes viewing your last shot on the Apple Watch with a few options and turning on audio playback of your preferred metrics following each shot. I’ll post screenshots of this later. You can also choose between 4 data points or 1 data point on the device itself. It was easy to use the app to customize the top 4. For example, I was able to quickly change from launch angle on irons to swing path on driver.

“The KIT was very easy to use – Once you spend a few minutes learning the app and settings, it is very simple to select a club, line up the target line, and fire away. You don’t have to use a level or a laser to line up. KIT uses the built-in camera to tell you where to line up within the app or on-device screen. I was also able to boot up the KIT in less than a minute and drop it down on the tee box for our on-course trial today. Because of this simplicity, I can see it being more practical to bring to the course…

“The Full Swing team really thought through usability for the KIT. You can see up to four data points on the device’s OLED screen. You can see all 16 data points on your iPhone/iPad along with a video replay of the shot, you can view one primary metric from your Apple Watch, and you can enable audio playback for any of the 16 data points. For me, this was a dream as a full iOS user. One other feature I like is that you can star a particular shot to save it. You can also send shot data + the video recording to your coach if you want.”

double or triple?: “I was able to meet the teaching pro at the range I’m using for testing – PGA teacher/member Ryan Kolk. He and his team have 4 units amongst themselves and use them both personally and with their students during lessons. Ryan spent time dialing in his knowledge of the range balls vs proV1x (gamer) to better understand the FSK and he believes the consistency is there with the FSK and within trackman and GC/Foresight models. His preference is to use FSK while testing shafts and new product before using them in his personal playing bag which as a GolfWRX member is 100% appreciated. For his better students, he believes the information like Face to Path and Club Path that FullSwing Kit offers is great to help them understand what their swing is doing and use that information to better themselves.”

hatrick11: “It’s nice to know I can get super useful practice sessions in at my house, and can do in in ~20 min stints; with two little kids at home I can’t just go out for frequent or lengthy range sessions, so this is super valuable and I think will help me keep my game from degrading and allow me to spend my limited free time enjoying the occasional round with friends. In particular with the KIT, as opposed to the cheaper monitors or the other “mid tiers” like GC3, seeing path and face-to-path data is the key item that makes my practice sessions useful…when I am grooving it my path is almost always between 0-2* out to in, with face control being the main thing I need to work on. When my game goes sideways I start coming more in to out, and combined with face consistency being an ongoing issue, that brings the bad left miss into play. Previously I have struggled getting real use out of net practice, because the feels don’t always match reality. This data and video evidence really helps keep me honest, so it was great to see that I was eventually able to get that piece dialed in with KIT.”

SwingBlues: “One feature I am really starting to like is how easy to see the video of each shot. My buddy was not hitting it well, we went to the video and we could see the takeway was too far to the outside.”

“Using the app, it will display all 16 data points. Below is an example of one of my iron shots. Pretty impressive data captured by KIT. On KIT itself, the launch monitor display can be configured to show a single data point, or it can show a grid of 4 data points where the golfer choose which ones to display!”

Head over to the thread for more comments, reviews, and future updates as our members continue to test the Full Swing KIT. Don’t forget to become a member today for future opportunities like this, plus product member testing and giveaways!

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